gar's

Armed with stainless-steel, prong-tipped arrows that can pierce the gar's thick scales, her guides, Sam Lovell and Steve Barclay, steered their flat-bottom boat into the brambly creeks of East Texas's Trinity River.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

Conversation flagged as everyone scanned the water for a glimpse of the gar's cigar-shaped body rolling to the surface.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

Through history, the alligator gar's biggest problem -- and best defense -- has been its fearsome appearance and tough construction.

Gar Guides Lead Hunt for Big Fish 2009

Through history, the alligator gar's biggest problem -- and best defense -- has been its fearsome appearance and tough construction.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

It was the alligator gar's growing popularity as a target for sportsmen that finally spurred Texas wildlife officials earlier this year to impose a one-gar-per-day-per-person bag limit, which takes effect Sept. 1.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

Scientists track the gar's tenure on Earth back 150 million years -- to about the time birds began to fly.

Gar Guides Lead Hunt for Big Fish 2009

Scientists track gar's tenure on earth back 150 million years, to about the time birds began to fly.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

Swimmers and boaters fear the gar's alligator-shaped jaws could take a chunk out of them in the water.

The Alligator Gar Is One Ugly Fish, With Few Friends but New Fans 2009

VERTEBRAE The bones of the gar's spine fit together like a series of ball-and-socket joints — a feature unique among fishes and common to reptiles and amphibians.

Fun Facts About Alligator Gar 2005

AIR BLADDER Thick, spongy, and highly vascular, the gar's air bladder behaves like a lung to aerate the fish's blood.

Fun Facts About Alligator Gar 2005